Time Inc. Eyes Rich Battista to Run ‘People’ and ‘Entertainment Weekly’

Veteran entertainment executive Rich Battista has reached a verbal agreement with Time to become president of the magazines People and Entertainment Weekly, according to a person familiar with the situation.

In that role, Mr. Battista would report directly to Joe Ripp, Time Inc.’s chief executive. Mr. Battista couldn’t be reached for comment.

People is Time Inc.’s largest single property in terms of revenue, but it has been buffeted by the same secular changes affecting most publications, including declining print advertising revenue.

In Time Inc.’s most recent annual report, the company said People accounted for nearly 18% of total 2014 revenue of $3.28 billion. That was down 1% from 2013. Time Inc. was spun off from Time Warner last June.

Mr. Battista spent 18 years within the company now known as 21st Century Fox, and also has experience in digital media. A Time Inc. insider earlier said the person filling the People role would have to understand the print business, but also be able to boost People’s presence online, where it faces serious competition for celebrity and entertainment news.

“People is among the biggest brands in publishing, and it has the opportunity to move aggressively into both digital media and TV,” said Jim Friedlich, head of Empirical Media, an advisor to media companies. “The fact that Time Inc. has chosen an executive from outside of publishing reflects their intention to exploit the full potential of the franchise.”

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Ripp said People magazine had “allowed a lot of its digital competitors to get a foothold when it should have been more aggressively going after them. But it isn’t too late. People now reports directly to me, and I’ll be much more involved. It’s a powerful franchise.”